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Pete Miller
Peter Zachary "Pete" Miller is a character on the NBC sitcom The Office. He is played by Jake Lacy. Along with Clark Green, Pete is hired to replace Kelly Kapoor as Customer Service rep at the start of season 9. Pete is an original character, and has no counterpart in the British version of the show, but has similarities to Jim Halpert, resulting in his nickname of "New Jim" when he first arrives at the company. Biography Pete is said to be in his twenties and originally hails from Vermont (much like the actor who plays him). His interests include boxing, tennis, NASCAR, and The Amazing Race. His favorite baseball team is the Boston Red Sox. Little is known of Pete's family, except for having a brother who once dared Pete to memorize every line of the film Die Hard, which Pete would later say he loved doing. In a deleted scene in a prior episode, he receives a text from his brother, whom he identifies as 'Mike', however, it is unknown whether this is the same brother mentioned in "Dwight Christmas". His closest friends (outside of work) are mentioned as being Scott, Glenn, and Rob, as well as someone he refers to as "Flipper", who earned his nickname by once flipping a table while drunk, though Pete concedes that "Flipper" is "an idiot". His and Clark's vague resemblance to salesmen Jim Halpert and Dwight Schrute led to several office staff members initially referring to them as "New Jim" and "New Dwight", respectively. Season 9 Pete is hired to work in the annex along with Clark Green to replace Kelly Kapoor as Customer Servic Representative. Pete is thin and attractive so everyone calls him the "New Jim". When Andy returns from his manager's retreat he decides to nickname Pete "Plop" because he supposidly defecates a lot however Pete denies this. Andy later has his employee's walk across a slack line and Jim tries to associate himself with Pete however learns that he has nothing in common with him. Pete later becomes a candidate to buy one of Angela's cats who she is giving up for adoption and tells her in one of her interview questions that he wants to start his own business and become successful someday. Pete also tells her that before he does all that he wants to settle in the office for a while. Jim realizes that Pete really is the new Jim and is about to enter the same boring life that he has had there prompting Jim to take a risk and join his friend's in Philadelphia to help create a new product. Pete later watches Dwight try to peddle across a rope on a bicycle over the building's parking lot and almost fall doing so. He watches with Clark as the Fire Department come to rescue him. Creed later calls Pete "A Jim Impersonator" to the cameras (New Guys). Pete is in the conference room with the rest of the office staff during Pam's chore wheel meeting. Pete later enters the office with Clark and is handed a letter by Erin for them. Pete assumes its another complaint however Erin tries to persuade him it could be good news however she admits later on its bad news. Pete is later in the break room with Clark when he witnesses Clark using Erin's naiveness to his advantage by telling her he can set her up with a news anchor job but really is just getting her to his apartment for his own purposes. Clark tries to get Pete in on it however Pete rejects he is in any way "pals" with Clark. Pete is later at his desk when Andy confronts Clark about what he is planning to do with Erin. Pete believes that Andy is going to punish Clark however much to his surprise it is revaled that Andy is also fooled. When Clark is listing all the revealing clothing that Erin will need for the interview Pete mutters to himself it seems "innapropriate for an interview". Pete tries to reject the notion that he is worried about Erin however he later convinces Andy to go with her revealing that he really does care about her. He and Andy show up with her at Clark's apartment and Pete lies saying that Andy decided to come on his own. Erin later complains about how hungry she is and Andy tasks Pete with taking her out to dinner. The cameras reveal that they go to a hamburger place and really enjoy each other's company (Roy's Wedding). When Andy reveals that he is related to Michelle Obama, Pete and Clark start clapping. He and Clark reveal that they learned that Andy is really happy when presented with praise so they clap everytime he does something as shown when Andy tosses a cup into the trashcan or when he simply makes copies. When Andy reveals in a meeting that his family transported slaves in order to have made their money, Clark, either not caring or having stopped paying attention at this point, starts clapping however Pete stops him. He is later seen working at his desk and smiles and greets Erin however she is busy learning the Germanic tribe language of "Dorthroki" and she growls back a word at him to which Pete appears scared or confused. He later smiles and waves at her in the parking lot as she and Andy get into his car implying he has feelings for her and it might be mutual however Andy doesn't seem to notice this at all (Andy's Ancestry). Pete is in the conference room where Andy is showing a montage of clips from the office staff's softball season. The staff soon realize it is Andy's horrible attempt at making a "fail video". A clip of a smiling and waving Pete and Clark on the bench makes Andy imitate Pete by implying he is just now going through puberty. He and the others later chant "Fail! Fail!" at Andy when Jim plays the clip of Andy spilling the water cooler all over himself. Pete is later moved onto the work bus along with all the other staff upon Jim convincing Dwight the building is unsafe. He is placed at the table with the accountants. In one scence he turns on a fan and it ends up blowing away Anglea's papers everywhere much to her annoyance. He participates in much of the road games they play when Dwight drives the bus to LaVerne's Pie Stand. Upon Andy rejecting Nellie's adoption letter however, Erin, who had worked hard on it goes behind the curtain and starts crying. Pete seems to find Andy rude and offensive for it. Pete is later seen talking to Erin when they reach the pie stand with the two of them leaning on a fence (Work Bus). When Andy's a cappella group come in and begin singing to the office, the noise brings Clark and Pete out of the office. Pete, Stanley, Phyllis, and Creed are later seen talking in the conference room and Pete asks if everyone dresses up for Halloween in the office. He looks at Creed somewhat nervously when he notices a blood-splattered Creed has no idea they were supposed to wear costumes. While the others have fun at the Halloween party, Pete stays in the annex and works. Erin, who had just finished telling Andy's a cappella group to surprise him by giving him a chance to sing his signature duet, notices Pete looking at her costume and assumes that he believes it is stupid. She loudly rejects this however Pete looks confused. Pete is later seen in the conference room listening to Andy's a cappella group sing (Here Comes Treble (Episode). While picking up some faxes from Erin he questions why she is placing watermelon seeds in her mouth. Erin tells her that is how she cheers up Andy when he is sad. Pete questions why a grown man is cheered up by that and tells Erin that Andy has to be at least forty years old. After Andy abandons Erin and sails off without her, Pete offers if she would like to join him and his friends at Poor Richards. Erin agrees and goes along with him seemingly happy to be with him (The Boat). Pete grows out his facial hair to participate in a charity to support research for prostate cancer. He is shown in clips playing on the computer with Clark and going to lunch with him in clips of Toby explaining how he is "bonding with them". Pete later talks to Erin and Erin jokes about how she doesn't like his moustache. Pete is later seen leaving the bathroom after shaving and appears surprised when the cameras catch him (The Whale). Pete is bored because he has been giving an assignment that he knows is just busy work. He has been instructed to file customer complaint cards however he knows that since they are on file already on the computer that his assighnment is just to fill up time. Pete instead begins making a house of cards with them. While making a wide base for it, Kevin starts ridiculing him for not making it tall. Pete tries to explain that first he has to build a base however Kevin doesn't seem to understand and tells Darryl that he doesn't feel "Pete is the sharpest guy in the drawer" to which Pete responds he can clearly hear him. Creed, Nellie, Erin, Meredith, and Pam later join him and Pete reads the complaints as he places each one on the growing tower. Their goal is to make the tower reach the ceiling. As Kevin tries to place one up there however he causes the tower to fall over. Everyone starts yelling at Kevin however Pete stops everyone and tells them that this entire tower is about mistakes and proves that everyone can make mistakes as there is not a single person present (except for Pam) who has not had a customer complain about them. Pete then gives Kevin a fist bump and says they will just start over. Erin can be seen smiling at Pete. When the tower eventually comes close to reach the ceiling again they realize that they are one card short. Pam decides to step up and make her first customer complaint. She calls one of her clients and makes a "Your Mama" joke however the client's mother had recently died so they complain about Pam as well as drop Dunder-Miflin as their paper provider. Everyone starts cheering and Pete can be heard exclaiming "So long!" however everyone stops cheering once they realize they are cheering over losing business. Pete later reads the charges over the latest complaint card citing Pam as "having offended a client over their recently deceased mother" to which Pam apologizes to the cameras. Pete then places the top card that makes the tower reach the ceiling and everyone cheers. Pete later holds one end of a piece of tape while Erin holds the other that stretches across the tower in the group photo Pam takes of everyone with the tower (The Target). Pete is in the annex talking to Kevin and Erin. He and Kevin make several Diehard ''references to which Erin doesn't understand and admits she has never seen the movie. Pete starts reciting several lines and reveals he knows every line in the movie. Erin then makes him recite it. She tests his knowledge however when she thinks he made a mistake he says that the transcripts were mistakes. Erin later comes back very sad that Andy won't be coming back for awhile. She tells Pete that they could watch the movie however when Pete suggests they just talk Erin insists on the movie. She and Pete then watch the movie in Andy's office. When Erin asks if he thinks Andy would ever jump out of a buillding for her, Pete replies he thinks he probably would. Erin starts crying and Pete puts his arm around her. She tells him that she is still Andy's girlfriend but to leave his arm there to which he does (Dwight Christmas). When Jim, Darryl, and Kevin are talking sports, Pete can be seen in the background working and wearing glasses. When word gets out that lice is spreading through the office, Pete comes out of the annex and has his hair checked. He is determined to have lice. He attends the meeting on lice and appears annoyed by Dwight's crazy solutions to getting rid of them. When they decide to rub mayonnaise in each other's hair to get rid of them, Creed offers to partner up with Erin however Erin chooses Pete instead. He and Erin put mayonnaise in each other's hair and joke around. When they have to rinse it off, Pete takes his shirt off revealing he has biceps and is very muscular. He later goes to talk to Erin however her desk is empty. He asks Oscar if she went home to which Oscar assumes so. Pete leaves appearing disappointed. Erin however was actually near the supply closet and notices this (Lice). Pete tries to talk to Erin while she is in the kitchen however she tells him she can't talk now because she has to deal with the pens for Pam. It is possible she is worried if she spends anymore time with Pete then she will start to fall in love with him. He later tries to socialize with her while she is unpacking the pens and he jokes that she is like the new Office Administrator causing Erin to become nervous and she starts to put the pens back in the box. He appears to be the only office staff member not to have any espresso (Suit Warehouse). Pete and Erin are put together to work on a project for Nellie in which they create a Facebook page for Dunder-Miflin. They create a fake Facebook profile for a guy named Derek McBlack (the profile picture is of Pete in sunglasses) and they have him like their page. Pete later reports that they get their first real like and he and Erin congratulate each other using a special high five combo they created. Nellie is horrified when she see's this and believes that its her fault that she put those two together as they clearly like each other. During a meeting on customer loyalty, Nellie tries to hint towards Erin that she is still dating Andy however the rest of the staff realize that Nellie is referring to Pete and Erin. Pete appears embarrassed when Kevin says that they are flirting. Pete is somewhat shocked throughout the meeting. Phyllis compares Pete and Andy during the meeting and claims that Pete is likely into some weird stuff. When Pete asks where this is coming from, the staff respond with Pete being in love with Erin. Pete later tries to talk to Erin however Erin treats him very formally much to Pete's sadness. Nellie notices this and decides to get them back together. She tells them that as she will continue to put them together to work on projects in the future, they have no choice but to keep talking to each other. Both seem very happy with this (Customer Loyalty). Pete is present in the meeting that Pam calls that she claims is a secret meeting called by David Wallace. He seems horrified when Pam reveals that someone vandalized her mural. He doesn't say anything during the meeting (Vandalism). Pete starts hanging out with Erin however is nervous that Andy is coming back the next day. He notices that Erin is being really nice to him and he thinks this is so he will not be mad at her so when she probably will decide not to break up with Andy and believes she is "sending him to the farm" like his parents did with his dog when he was a kid. He couples up with Erin when the office goes out to the mall to get a couples discount. When he is scraping ice off his windshield, Erin reveals that she won't break up with Andy. He tells her that is fine and he just wants her to be happy. She is softened by his answer, and kisses him before running into Andy's office and telling him that she is breaking up with him (Couples Discount). While Andy is crying over his breakup with Erin, Pete and Erin exchange looks. Erin explains how in order to be sensitive to Andy, they are dating in secret. Andy, unaware of this, believes Pete to be someone he can confide in. He talks to Clark and Pete about how Erin gave away his blue sweater and worries over whether she is seeing someone. Pete tries to stay out of the conversation however Andy keeps drawing him in. Clark then tells Pete he will give him $100 if he wears the blue sweater that Erin gave him. Andy later snoops on Erin's phone and learns that she is dating Pete however he has completely forgotten that Pete's real name is Pete as Andy has been calling him Plop for so long. Andy eventually figures out who Pete is and attempts to fire him. Pete refuses to leave because Toby tells Andy that he cannot fire Pete for dating Erin. He proceeds to show him a workplace relationship document that they filled out. Pete later feels guilty after seeing Andy give a speech on how betrayed and hurt he feels. Pete and Erin later try to get Andy to accept it and Pete tells Andy about how he was forced to see an ex-girlfriend of his everyday however he learned to get over it. Andy however, decides to hire Pete's ex-girlfriend, Alice, and Erin's ex-boyfriend, Gabe, and sit them near each other in order to force them to go through what he has too. Pete and Alice share an awkeward encounter and Andy calls them all into the conference room. Alice starts naming several embarrassing stories about Pete such as how he drank a lot and didn't go to class very often in college. Pete starts arguing with her and Erin starts arguing with Gabe as Andy sits back and enjoys the show (Moving On). When the office learn that the cameras have been getting private moments, Pete joins the others in the secret meeting in the warehouse to discuss what else the cameras may have gotten. He suggests to Pam for her to talk to her friend, Brian. (Promos). When Stanley demands that Dwight fix the elevator, Stanley orders Pete to fetch him a coffee to which he does. Pete is later present at watching the press conference with Angela and the Senator and appears surprised when the Senator reveals that he is in a relationship with Oscar (Stairmageddon) Pete is seen watching the paper airplane contest in the warehouse amongst the office staff. As he is not seen competing it is likely he lost early on in the tournament. He cheers on Erin as she makes it to the final four. When she beats Clark and starts to make fun of him, Pete gets her to stop by telling her to stop. Later when Erin loses to Dwight, it is revealed that she has an anger problem when it comes to losing. She tells Pete she was going to use the prize money to buy him a sweater. She starts kicking a box and she eventually leaves with Pete watching slightly shocked (Paper Airplane). When Jim is moved to Clark's old desk in the annex, he tries striking up a friendly conversation with Pete however just as he did before, he realizes that the two do not have anything in common. Pete assures Jim that he is sure "they will have their moments" however he doesn't look convinced. When Jim and Pam and Pete and Erin are later talking to each other, Erin suggets that they should all double date however when the day of the week she picks doesn't work for Jim and Pam, she tells them to forget it and leaves. Pete later comes out of the annex and watches Andy sing his goodbye song to the office (Livin' the Dream). When Dwight and Jim hold a no nonsense meeting, Pete attends the meeting and can be seen sitting behind Clark. When Dwight is later surveying the office, looking for a good candidate for the Assistant to the Assistant to the Regional Manager, Pete can be seen talking to Phyllis. Pete later is referred to as "Plop" in front of the office by Dwight however when Pete expresses dislike that he is still called that, the office all agree that they call him that because "they owe Andy that much". Jim asks questions to the office staff to read his mind and whichever can do so will get the job and he asks Pete to guess which animal he is thining of. Pete guesses a horse however Jim tells him he was thinking of the opposite. When Pete asks what the opposite of a horse is, Dwight responds "a seahorse". Pete later watches another event take place in the warehouse and the office catch Darryl who had tried to sneak away without saying goodbye. Pete joins the meeting of people trying to get Darryl to do one last thing with them however Darryl tells them he will only do one thing with all of them. The thing they choose is to dance with him and during the dance party, Pete can be seen with Clark. Pete later joins the rest of the office staff with watching the office documentary at a bar sitting at a table with Clark, watching with interest (A.A.R.M.). One year after the documentary and Pete is still working at Dunder-Miflin and can be seen doing Dwight's morning exercises along with the rest of the staff. Pete is a part of Dwight's committee to plan his bachelor party. He later attends the bachelor party. Pete is also seen at the interview of the office staff however no questions on camera are directed towards him. He can be seen smiling and clapping when Erin is reunited with her birth parents during the interview. He is later seen at Dwight and Angela's wedding as well as the PBS party in the warehouse (Finale). Relationships Erin Hannon Pete quickly became friends with receptionist Erin Hannon, similar to Jim's early friendship with Erin's predecessor (and future wife) Pam Beesley. In "Roy's Wedding", he is clearly discomforted when Clark invites her to film a news anchor audition at his apartment, correctly suspecting this is merely a ruse by Clark to exploit her by filming her in various outfits. Pete manages to sabotage Clark's plan by convincing Andy, Erin's boyfriend, to accompany them as a "co-anchor". When Andy becomes more preoccupied with his own performance than Erin's, he asks Pete to take a hungry Erin out to eat, while the disappointed Clark is left filming Andy alone. In "Andy's Ancestry", when Erin attempts to impress Andy by learning the fictional Dothraki language from the TV series ''Game of Thrones(which Andy, stressed by work problems, is not particularly receptive of), Pete bids her farewell at the end of the day in Dothraki. Though neither admitted it at the time, Pete and Erin each appeared concerned what the other thinks of them. In "Here Comes Treble", after telling an a capellagroup from Andy's alma mater of Cornell to indulge Andy's childish demand that they sing his signature song, she tells Pete, "this isn't stupid", much to the confusion of Pete, who had made no comment on the matter. Conversely, in "The Whale", Pete grows a mustache with several other male co-workers for "Movember", but after seeing Erin's reaction to it, he immediately shaves it off. In "The Boat" Pete appears somewhat puzzled by Erin's willingness to indulge Andy's immaturity when his family undergoes a financial crisis. When Erin and Andy drive up to Connecticut to see off his family boat, which is being sold to a buyer in the Bahamas, Pete volunteers to cover reception for Erin. When Erin returns, disappointed that Andy had chosen to sail the boat to the Bahamas himself, taking his brother, but leaving Erin behind, Pete invites her to join him and his friend for drinks and pool, which she accepts. Erin appeared impressed after Pete stood up for Kevin Malone from his berating co-workers after Kevin accidentally knocked over a "comment card tower" several of them had been making. In "Dwight Christmas", Pete and Erin watch Die Hard together in Andy's office, to take her mind off Andy sending her an email saying he'll be staying in the Bahamas an extra three weeks. When Erin begins to cry, Pete puts his arm around her to comfort her. She reminds him that she's still Andy's girlfriend, which Pete acknowledges, though she tells him he can leave his arm around her. In "Lice", Erin appears somewhat troubled at her attraction to Pete, after seeing him remove his shirt during a hair-washing. Pete appears disappointed when Erin has apparently left for the day without saying goodbye, unaware that Erin was deliberately avoiding him, something she continues to do the following episode. In "Customer Loyalty", Erin has stopped avoiding Pete and the two appear to enjoy themselves when assigned to work on a special project. The two are embarrassed when Nellie and others bring up their flirting during a staff meeting, though both of them insist nothing is going on between them. Nellie shuts down their project after this, but later reconsider after seeing their awkward encounters. Both Pete and Erin seem pleased at this. In "Couples Discount", Pete is somewhat skeptical when he learn Erin intends to break up with the returning Andy. Indeed, Andy initially talks her out of breaking up with him, but after hearing Pete say he only wants her to be happy, she kisses him and immediately breaks up with Andy. The two are subsequently dating in secret during the episode "Moving On". Pete and Erin's relationship is not referenced for several subsequent episodes, but seems to be continuing on good terms. In "Paper Airplane", however, Pete is somewhat taken aback by Erin's highly competitive nature (which Erin admits she worries about Pete seeing) during a paper airplane competition, particularly after she throws a tantrum at losing. Despite this awkward moment the two are seen getting along well in "Livin' the Dream", though Pete and Erin appear offended by Jim and Pam's hesitance at Erin's suggestion of a double date. The two are seen dancing at Dwight and Angela's wedding reception one year later. They are also later seen leaving the Office hand in hand Andy Bernard Both Pete and Clark are largely deferential to Branch Manager Andy Bernard, not having known him before his promotion, unlike most of the other staff. When Pete is first introduced to Andy in "New Guys", Andy assigns him the nickname "Plop", much to Pete's discomfort, because Andy claims Pete is "always taking dumps". The nickname would persist even after Andy quit. In "Andy's Ancestry", Pete and Clark have taken to applauding nearly any announcement or action by Andy, however mundane, after discovering that Andy appreciates enthusiasm. The two note in a talking head that their applause is beginning to have a reverse effect, causing them to genuinely believe simple actions like making copies or drinking water are impressive. In the same episode, Andy tells Erin he likes Pete and contemplates setting him up with Meredith Palmer (apparently unaware of Pete's obvious discomfort when Meredith propositioned him in "New Guys")8 Pete, however gave Andy a somewhat cold look in "Work Bus", when Andy's refusal help Nellie Bertram apply for an adoption caused Erin, herself a foster child who was never adopted, to cry. Any goodwill Andy had for Pete immediately evaporates after learning that Pete has been seeing Erin in "Moving On". Andy attempts to fire Pete for this, until Toby points out he has no cause to fire Pete. Andy later vindictively hires Pete and Erin's respective exes, specifically to cause tension, and later takes pleasure at their discomfort. Despite this incident, in "Livin' the Dream" Pete and Clark emerged from the annex and listened with interest when Andy played "I Will Remember You" for the staff on his last day. Clark Green Despite being roughly the same age, working in the same department, and being hired at the same time, Pete explicitly states in "Roy's Wedding" that Clark is not his friend, but is merely "the douche that sits next to me at the office". He clearly disapproves of Clark's attempt to exploit Erin with a fake news audition in that episode and successfully foils it. There has not been any apparent tension between the two since then, however, and the two do agree on several things, such as how to behave around Andy. The two were seen playing a computer game together in "New Guys". In "The Whale" the two were seen hanging out with Toby Flenderson, Daryl Philbin, and Kevin Malone, all having grown mustaches for "Movember". Clark was apparently aware that Pete and Erin had been dating before anyone else in the office. He appeared somewhat amused at Pete's awkwardness around Andy before Andy found out, and later found it funny when Andy later hired Pete's ex-girlfriend Alice to work with him to get back at him. Pete and Clark's relationship has apparently improved over time. When Clark takes Jim's desk, briefly relegating Jim to Clark's desk in the annex, Jim suggests to Pete that he probably missed Clark, which Pete seems to acknowledge. Clark, for his part, sardonically warns Jim "it is very easy to get lost in Pete's beautiful, dead eyes." Jim Halpert Though several co-workers in "New Guys" referred to Pete as "the New Jim", Jim himself dismissed this initially, particularly after chatting with Pete, and finding they had no common interests. Jim later overhears some of Pete's dreams, however, reminding him of his own, before years of working at Dunder-Mifflin, which motivates Jim to pursue an opportunity to join in a start-up sports marketing company. When Jim is briefly relegated to Clark's desk across from Pete in the annex, the two attempt to bond but are as awkward as ever, as the two still have no common interests. Toby Flenderson Toby appears to enjoy interacting socially with the much younger Pete and Clark, though neither appear as interested in socializing with Toby. In "The Whale", both Pete and Clark, along with Daryl Philbin and Kevin Malone agreed to grow mustaches for "Movember", at Toby's suggestion. When Nellie attempts to separate Pete and Erin in "Customer Loyalty", to prevent Andy from being hurt, Toby gently reminds her that Andy himself had not been a good boyfriend, but describes Pete as "a pretty cool guy". He's clearly impressed when Nellie reconsiders and puts the two back to working together again Category:Male Category:TV characters Category:Sitcom characters Category:The Office characters Category:Human